


A Christmas Sweater Story (Remix)

by Emiline



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Remix, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 16:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emiline/pseuds/Emiline
Summary: Hecate was surely not going to buy herself an ugly sweater for Dimity’s party, so was it not Ada’s duty to do so for her? Only in the interest of friendship, of course, and not because she might have a teeny-tiny (minuscule, really) crush on the chemistry teacher.A remix of A Christmas Sweater Story by yetanotherramblingfangirl





	A Christmas Sweater Story (Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yetanotherramblingfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetanotherramblingfangirl/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Christmas Sweater Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16983792) by [yetanotherramblingfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetanotherramblingfangirl/pseuds/yetanotherramblingfangirl). 

> I’ve lifted some of the lines of dialogue directly from yetanotherramblingfangirl's original fic (more details about this in the endnotes), and if you haven't yet read the original, I urge you to do so. It's delightful!

As Ada saw it, there were three pertinent facts that related to the decision before her:

  
One: Ada was Hecate’s friend.  
Two: Hecate had accepted Dimity’s invitation to her annual ugly sweater party.  
Three: Hecate assuredly did not own an ugly sweater, and the mind boggled at the idea of Hecate acquiring such a garment.

Therefore, was it not Ada’s duty, as Hecate’s friend, to ensure that Hecate was properly outfitted for this event? And when Ada just happened to be at the local thrift shop, which just happened to have a brilliant red sweater festooned with a sloth wearing a Santa hat, and for less than ten dollars (technically) no less, should she not purchase the aforementioned sweater for Hecate?

She would have done it for Gwen or Algernon or Dimity, if any of them had been in need of festive attire, after all. That it was for Hecate didn’t mean anything different. Now if she was considering buying a _new_ sweater, that would be different. But $9.99 was well within the range of friendship.

That she felt nervous was merely because it was highly unlikely that Hecate would like this particular item, not for other reasons Ada didn’t care to probe too deeply into. In fact, Ada was pretty sure Hecate would hate this sweater, but wasn’t that the point? It was an ugly sweater party after all. Hecate would accept it in the spirit it was given. Probably.

Hecate had worn a scarf just this color a couple of weeks ago. Ada could still picture her, her nose red from cold, strands of hair blowing around, on the lookout for lunchtime hijinks.

The sloth on the sweater was kind of cute, in a whimsical sort of way, Ada decided. She wondered if she could convince Hecate to wear a Santa hat. Probably not.

* * *

Ada took the sweater out of the washer and laid it flat on a towel. She rolled the towel up, squeezing gently, then unrolled it again and laid the sweater on a dry towel. She hoped it hadn’t shrank too much in the wash – it didn’t look like it had, although it’s appearance was not improved by being a bit damp.

Gwen had managed, one memorable year, to upend an entire bowl of punch onto herself, the first step in what had proved be the end of that particular sweater, because later she’d caught it on the door handle and accidentally yanked it out of any recognizable shape, besides ripping a hole that proved to be unrepairable.

The next year Gwen had upped the ante by appearing in a garment both appallingly ugly and slightly risqué. That caused such a stir that she found a different one for the following year, that was somehow just as ugly and vaguely inappropriate, but in a completely different way. It became a sort of unspoken tradition, after that. When Ada had raised her eyebrows at this year’s find, Gwen’s response had been “When you’re my age dear, you do what you want. If anyone’s shocked that’s their problem, not mine. I’m older, not dead.”

“Don’t try to tell me you haven’t always done just as you please,” Ada had countered, laughing.

“Yes, but now people don’t dare give me grief about it. And what about you, young lady? Is your Hecate coming to this party?”

“She’s not _my_ Hecate,” Ada replied, feeling her face go warm.

“Mmm,” Gwen eyed her. “If you say so.”

“I don’t think she’s really the ugly sweater type, but I do think she’d enjoy herself at Dimity’s party. I—happen to have an extra sweater that I think I’ll offer her.”

“Happened to have? How very fortunate.” Gwen’s eyes twinkled. She leafed through the returned music. “It’s a holiday miracle, here’s the two copies I’ve been missing of the piece we did back in September.” She fixed her gaze back on Ada. “You’re already rather becomingly pink, so I won’t ask you if you ‘happened’ to have this sweater three days ago,” she added slyly.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Ada said with dignity, comfortable in the knowledge that that was a completely true statement. She’d bought it five days ago, after all, not three.

Algernon stuck his head into the classroom.

“There you are, my dear. Did you forget that we’re going to _The Music Man_ tonight?”

“Of course not, dear. Ada and I were just having a bit of a chat.”

* * *

When Ada caught herself wondering if she should wrap the now dry-and-neatly-folded sweater in festive paper and tie it with ribbon she conceded to herself that Gwen might have a had a point. Maybe she did have a teeny-tiny thing for Hecate, who had just yesterday bestowed one of her rare smiles on Ada when Ada had joined her at lunch and invited her to have dinner with her before the party—_oh_. Ada groaned and dropped her head into her hands. A bit bigger than teeny-tiny, then.

A gift bag wasn’t too much, she decided. Festive, but it didn’t imply that you’d put as much work into as wrapping did. It was less personal, but still showed that you cared.

* * *

Sometimes you just had to be bold, Ada decided. Sometimes you just had to march into the classroom of the woman you fancied and give her a sweater that you definitely went out of your way to buy for her and spent way too much time agonizing over how you were going to give it to her.

Ada took a deep breath, and pushed open the door of the classroom.

Hecate wasn’t there. 

Well. That was a bit of a letdown. It was too early for Hecate to have left though, she had to be around the school somewhere.

* * *

Ada found Hecate in the mail room. The conversation went about the way Ada thought it might, except that she’d thought that Hecate’s main objection would be the general idea, and then after that, the sloth, but that did not appear to be the primary sticking point.

“But red?” Hecate repeated, frowning at the sweater.

“You look very striking in red,” Ada pointed out.

“Is that your polite way of telling me that I’m too pale?”

Oh goodness. Had flirting always been this difficult? “No. It’s my completely truthful way of saying you look lovely in red.” _You always look lovely,_ she thought a bit wistfully.

Hecate stared at her. Ada began to worry that this hadn’t been a good idea after all. Perhaps she’d allowed her own feelings to cloud her reading of Hecate’s and she’d been seeing only what she wanted to see.

Finally, Hecate spoke. “Well, thank you. For the compliment and the sweater. Even if there is a sloth with a Santa hat on it.”

Why exactly had she thought a little flirtation might in order? This was getting worse and worse. “Do you really hate it that much? I just thought—”

“No, it was very thoughtful of you, and you’re right, I hadn’t bought anything for tonight. Thank you, Ada.”

Ada bit her lip. “Are you sure?” 

“Well, if you’re asking if I’ll feel absolutely ridiculous wearing this, then the answer is without a doubt. But if you’re asking whether or not I’ll wear it to Dimity’s party tonight, then the answer is yes.” 

Ada beamed and clapped her hands. “Oh Hecate, I’m so glad! I promise that you won’t look any more ridiculous than the rest of us.” Ada pulled her mail out of her slot. “Nor will yours be the most eye-catching. Gwen’s found a new sweater that I think even tops the one from last year, if you can believe that, and as for Algernon—one never knows what he will come up with.”

“He does have a…unique sense of style. And what, if I may ask, does yours look like?”

“Oh, it will be much more fun as a surprise,” Ada winked. “Are we still on for dinner?”

“Of course. Unless it’s not convenient for you anymore, of course.”

“What? No, of course it’s convenient for me.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it.”

“Me too,” Ada replied, heart light. “Don’t forget the sweater. You’ll look charmingly in it, I know.”

“I’m sorry,” Hecate’s cheeks took on a rather becoming shade of red. “I was thinking of something. What did you say?”

“Just don’t forget to wear that sweater. Whatever you think about it, I know you’ll look lovely in it.”

Hecate nodded. 

Ada’s pocket started tinkling. “Oh dear, I’ve got a meeting in a couple of minutes,” she said, pulling out her phone and turning off the alarm. “See you at seven?”

“See you then.”

Ada had a sudden absurd urge to blow Hecate a kiss. She gave an awkward little half-wave instead, and exited. The door snicked shut behind her.

“…but I never heard them ringing,” Ada heard Gwen’s voice floating out through the open classroom door.

Ada smiled, and joined in under her breath “No I never heard them at all, till there was you.”

**Author's Note:**

> The lines of dialogue (but not the descriptions) from “But red?” through “But if you’re asking whether or not I’ll wear it to Dimity’s party tonight, then the answer is yes,” are lifted directly from yetanotherramblingfangirl’s original fic. 
> 
> The song that Gwen and Ada sing at that end is from _The Music Man_
> 
> Gwen’s phrasing about being “older, not dead”, I first heard in relation to a LiveJournal community of the same name, although it can be found in various fannish places.


End file.
